He is Holding our Hands
I love holding my girls’ hands. It brings me joy knowing that they want to hold my hand and that they receive comfort from it. As we walk across a parking lot, busy street, or if they are just really excited to show me something, holding their hands is wonderful. I know it brings them security.
The same is true as God holds our hands as we walk with Jesus. “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand” (Psalm 73:23). The Lord is guiding our steps and holding our hands every step of the way. There are many moments when we tug away, when we want to go down our own path and live how we want. He holds on. He will always hold on. He will always be right next to us.
Life gets treacherous sometimes. Things get stressful and it can feel unbearable to move forward. But we then look up to see our Lord holding our hands, walking with us through life’s valleys. We know this to be true from Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
The night I wrote the above paragraphs I started to get horrible, dull pain radiating from the side of my back to the front. Pain I’ve gotten before but on my right side. As I was lying in bed unable to sit still from the pain — that didn’t last long (maybe five minutes) — I couldn’t help but think about what I was writing above. Lying in bed waiting for this dull pain to subside — and contemplating going to the ER — I remembered that God was holding my hand through it. I was a bit scared of the pain because it’s never happened on my left side before, but I knew God was with me (yes, I’ve already made a doctor’s appointment). He was right beside me.
Whatever it is, friend, you can know God is holding your hand. This isn’t a Jesus-is-your-best-friend concept but one that speaks to the intimate relationship we have with the Father through the Son by the Spirit. Our Father holds our hands because we are his children. He’s with us; he cares for us; he loves us.
If you think of one thing today about God, may it be this precious truth: He is close.
Our holy God is transcendent and completely “other” from us. He’s high and lifted up and has an infinite majesty to him. He is the Creator of all things and reigns over the cosmos . . . and he’s also close to his children. Let us marvel.